To start delivering vaccines to 20 African countries, starting next week

"Pfizer": The South African strain may severely reduce the effectiveness of the "vaccine"

A health worker receives the vaccine in South Africa.

A.F.B.

Pfizer and Biontech said that a laboratory study indicates that the South African strain of the Coronavirus may reduce the protection provided by the antibodies produced through the two companies' vaccines by two thirds, while the African Centers for Disease Control confirmed the start of delivery of vaccines to 20 countries, starting next week. .

The two companies stated that the study concluded that the vaccine is still able to neutralize the virus, but no evidence has yet emerged from human trials confirming that the strain reduces the protection provided by the vaccine.

However, the two companies have made investments and approached the relevant authorities to develop an updated version of the vaccine or produce a booster dose.

For the study, scientists from the two companies and the medical branch at the University of Texas at the University of Texas developed a genetic engineering virus that included changes to the protruding part of the highly contagious mutated strain discovered in South Africa.

And those protuberant parts are what the virus invades human cells with, and it is also the primary target of many Covid-19 vaccines.

The researchers tested the modified virus in blood extracted from individuals who had received the vaccine, and discovered a two-third reduction in the level of neutralization of the antibodies, compared with the effectiveness of the vaccine on the most common types of virus in US trials.

The results of the study are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

And due to the lack of a fixed standard yet to determine the level of antibodies required to prevent the virus, it is not clear yet whether a decrease of two-thirds will eliminate the effectiveness of the vaccine in fighting the strain that is spreading around the world.

However, Bi-Yong Shi, a professor at the University of Texas and co-chair of the team that conducted the study, said he believed the Pfizer vaccine would likely provide protection against the strain.

This comes at a time when the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated yesterday that the distribution of anti-corona vaccines will start throughout the African continent, starting next week.

"I am delighted to announce that delivery of the first million doses will start across the continent, next week," said the director of the centers, John Nkengasung, in a press conference.

Nkengasung said that AstraZeneca vaccine doses will be distributed to about 20 countries, and there will be a priority in the vaccination program for health care workers.

So far, only seven countries on the continent have started vaccination campaigns against the Corona virus, and Zimbabwe is expected to join them soon.

And South Africa had announced the cessation of using AstraZeneca vaccines it had bought, and instead used a vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson, after a study that showed that the AstraZeneca vaccine provides limited protection against a strain of Corona virus, discovered in the country.

South Africa is offering the doses of AstraZeneca, which it has bought, to other African countries.

AstraZeneca vaccine is important for developing countries, partly because it does not require extremely cold temperatures for storage.

According to the latest data issued by the centers, about 3.8 million cases have been recorded on the continent, which means that they represent only 3.5% of the total global injuries, while the total deaths reached 100 thousand.

Two studies revealed that half of South Africa's 59 million people had apparently been infected with "Covid-19", and indicated that the Corona virus has caused thousands of deaths that do not appear in the official statistics.

The South African Medical Research Council said that more than 140,000 additional deaths have been recorded since May 2020, in this country most officially affected by the Coronavirus on the continent, which has carried out a wide campaign of checks since the first wave of the epidemic.

The leading private health insurance company in the country, "Discovery", estimates the proportion of those who have definitely died from this disease at about 90%, or 120,000 injured.

Nevertheless, official statistics indicate that South Africa has recorded only 48,500 deaths related to the Coronavirus, out of 1.5 million infections.

But these numbers are underestimated, says Emil Steppe, the statistician at Discovery.

He told «AFP»: «The number of deaths, which are attributed, is less than the reality in almost all countries of the world».

The death rate associated with "Covid-19" is about 0.4% in South Africa.

Assuming that 120 thousand people have died of "Corona", this means that more than 30 million people have been infected with the virus, according to his calculations, or about half of the population.

These estimates coincide with a study on antibodies, which revealed that between 32 and 63% of the South African population had contracted the virus since the beginning of the epidemic.

The presence of antibodies in the blood allows it to reveal whether a person has contracted a virus, even after recovery.

The study, published last week by the National Blood Center in South Africa, was conducted on a group of 5,000 blood donors in just four provinces of the country.

South Africa is facing a second wave of "Corona", caused to a large extent by a domestic mutation in the virus, which is more contagious.

However, finally, it began to record a decline in the spread of the virus, and the number of new cases decreased to about 2000 per day, compared to more than 20 thousand at the end of December.

The country launched a vaccination campaign, the day before yesterday, with vaccines from the giant American pharmaceutical company, Johnson & Johnson.

In Iraq, the Minister of Health and Environment in Iraq, Hassan Al-Tamimi, announced yesterday that 50% of the recorded infections with the Corona virus, during the past three days, are due to the new strain of the virus, which entered the country during the past days.

Researchers are testing the modified virus in blood extracted from individuals who have received the vaccine, and they discovered a decrease of two-thirds.

South Africa is facing a second wave of "Corona" ... caused to a large extent by a local mutation in the virus, which is more contagious.

- Two studies revealed that half of South Africa's 59 million people have apparently been infected with "Covid-19".

Saudi Arabia allows the British "AstraZeneca" vaccine against "Corona"

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority announced yesterday that it has authorized the use of the British "AstraZeneca" vaccine, against the emerging corona virus (Covid-19).

The authority said, in a statement yesterday, that the authorization to use the vaccine and allow its import came based on the data provided to it, which have been reviewed in all its details according to an accurate scientific methodology, and accordingly the health authorities in the Kingdom will start procedures for using the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to the standards and requirements for that .

She added, "It will analyze samples from every incoming shipment of the vaccine before using it."

On December 16, Saudi Arabia announced the arrival of the first shipment of the "Pfizer" vaccine, to be the first Arab country to receive the vaccine, while it had previously announced that the vaccines would be free for citizens and residents, including those who violated the residency and work system.

And the Saudi Ministry of Health announced, earlier yesterday, the launch of the second phase of vaccination with the Corona vaccine (Covid-19) in all regions of the Kingdom.

Riyadh - D.A.

The Vatican raises the slogan "No vaccine ... No work"

The Vatican has informed its employees that they may risk losing their jobs if they refuse to be vaccinated against "Covid-19", without the presence of health reasons that prevent it.

A decree issued by the de facto ruler of the Vatican, Cardinal Giuseppe Bertillo, stated that vaccination is the "responsible option", as it prevents harm to others.

Thousands of employees work in the Vatican, most of whom live in Italy.

The vaccination program began in the city last month, and Pope Francis (84 years) was among the first to receive the vaccine doses.

The decree, which consists of seven pages, said that those who cannot receive the vaccine for health reasons may be transferred to other jobs, where they mix with fewer people, but they will receive the same salary even if they move to work in a lower position.

But he mentioned that whoever refuses to be vaccinated without a convincing reason will be subject to a specific article in the employee rights and duties law of 2011.

This article states that an employee who refuses "preventive measures" may be subject to "varying degrees of consequences that may lead to dismissal."

Vatican - Reuters

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